Serbia – media market 2025

Key overall 5% media driver growth in 2025 vs. 2024 was driven by Online and OOH, followed by TV investments. Print and Radio declined.

Major acquisitions in the Serbian media market:

• Yettel acquired SBB’s media distribution infrastructure from United Media and included more TV channels in their offer, so some channels, such as Informer and Telekom’s Superstar channels, increased their coverage, resulting in increased viewership.
• Telekom acquired the Total TV DTH service and further secured its leading position as the key media content distribution operator in Serbia, increasing its share to 62% as of Q3 2025. With this acquisition, Telekom also acquired the broadcasting rights for major sports events from Sport Klub, transferring them to Arena Sport.
• Telekom Srbije also acquired 80% of MONDO INC, previously owned by WMG (Kurir, Klasik TV, Dox TV, printed titles, and web portals). WMG remained a minor shareholder (20%).
• Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. stopped advertising as of January 2026 and were excluded from monitoring.
• Happy TV was excluded from TAM provider monitoring as of February 2025.

Key overall 6% media driver growth in 2026 vs. 2025 is expected to come from Online and OOH, followed by TV and Radio investments. Print is expected to decline. The "Promo Wars" Effect: Retailers are traditionally among the largest media spenders in Serbia. When massive consolidations like these occur, they usually trigger aggressive promotional campaigns. We should anticipate increased ad spend not just from the newly merged entities (Aman/DIS and Alta/Idea) as they reposition themselves, but also defensive media spending from market leaders looking to protect their market share. Expansion of Retail Media Networks (RMN): It is highly important to note that, as part of the Idea takeover, Alta Group is also acquiring the Super Kartica loyalty programme. This gives them access to the purchase data of over a million consumers in Serbia. For us in the media industry, this signals a massive shift towards advanced, data-driven retail media networks and highly targeted digital advertising. TV reach is supported by the growing popularity of VOD Video on Demand is increasingly used across generations, positively impacting TV reach. Growing Acceptance of Ads An increasing global acceptance of advertising on paid video streaming services in exchange for cheaper subscriptions unlocks audiences who are more receptive to ads on these platforms. Retail Media Advertising Retail media advertising is becoming more popular worldwide, enabling brands to connect with consumers directly where they make purchases online. Social Media Shopping Globally, more consumers are shopping on social media, making it crucial to include social commerce in media strategies. The Imperative of First-Party Data for Personalisation With the ongoing deprecation of third-party cookies and increasing privacy regulations, brands are prioritising the collection and strategic use of first-party data to create highly personalised advertising experiences. This enables more relevant messaging, better audience engagement, and optimised paths to purchase across all digital touchpoints.